


How Harry Got A Stuffed Animal

by Drowned_in_Feels



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Gen, Gen Work, I'll explain this in the notes, Inspired by Youtube, POV Remus Lupin, Prequel, Remus Lupin Needs a Hug, Stuffed Toys, coldmirror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 22:07:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17733533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drowned_in_Feels/pseuds/Drowned_in_Feels
Summary: After the fateful Halloween night of 1981, Lupin retrieves a small stuffed animal from the house in Godrick's Hollow. Eight years later, he decides it's time to pass it on to Harry.





	How Harry Got A Stuffed Animal

**Author's Note:**

> If you are from Germany, you might be familiar with Coldmirror and her Harry Potter Podcast. For the non-initiated: Coldmirror is a German Youtuber who's famous for her Harry Potter parodies. At the moment, she's doing a podcast in which she meticulously analyses every five minutes of the first Harry Potter film. In the very first episode she mentions a small stuffed animal that can be seen on a shelf in the cupboard under the stairs. Here's a picture:  
>   
> She asks for somebody to write 10000 pages of fanfic about how Harry got this stuffed animal. Well, this isn't 10000 pages long but I still wrote something. If you want to listen to the podcast, [here's a link to the video version on youtube.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4sv53yydA8&t=859s) Time stamp for the stuffed animal bit is 14:30 (13:56 if you want a little more context) and yes, there are English subtitles. Enjoy. Of course you can still read this fic without watching the video. 
> 
> Disclaimer: This was prompted to me by a friend (I know you're reading this, hello!) so I just wanted to say that this is not exactly my own original idea, but hers. Thanks. <3

Remus Lupin was standing in a small alleyway in Little Whinging, Surrey. He was waiting for the son of two of his best friends to walk home from school. Lupin hadn't seen Harry since the day that Lily and James had died; he wasn't even sure if he would recognise him. After all, Harry should now be nine years old and he had no other clue as to what he looked like other than what his parents used to look like.

Now, Lupin had not just come all the way to Surrey to stalk a child, no, he actually had something he wanted to do. Back in 1981, when he had gotten the news of James and Lily's death, he had been devastated. And the next day, his other best friend had died and his fourth best friend had gotten arrested and sent to Azkaban. And Harry had already been dropped off at his muggle relatives. All of a sudden, Lupin had lost everybody that meant something to him and he was all alone.

In his loneliness, Lupin had visited Godrick's Hollow. Dumbledore had already put a spell on the house to shield it from the Muggles' view but except for that, the house was in the same state as it was during the night that cost James and Lily their lives.

Lupin had wandered through the now empty rooms, reliving all the memories he had made there. Remembering the house as one of the few places that he had felt safe in. Many times throughout his visit, he had broken down and cried. It was hard to grasp that he would never be able to spend time there with his friends ever again.

Upstairs, in what used to be Harry's room, Lupin had found many toys and children's books scattered abandoned across the floor. He wondered if maybe he should take all of that stuff to the Dursley's house but Dumbledore had explicitly instructed him not to interact with them.

Harry's bed, however, was empty except for one small stuffed animal. He assumed that Hagrid must have wrapped him in his blankets when he came to get him, which explained why they were missing from the bed. But he had not taken the stuffed toy. Lupin picked it up. He wasn't quite sure which type of animal it was supposed to be. It was blue with a white face. It might be a lamb or a sheep or maybe just a simple bear.

He didn't quite know what lead him to his action but he put the stuffed animal in his coat pocket and took it with him. Maybe he just wanted to have a piece of Lily, James and Harry that he could keep for himself to remember them. Maybe he just didn't want to leave it in this empty, abandoned house. Maybe he intended to somehow give it to Harry.

Eight years later, Lupin decided that it was finally time to give this stuffed toy back to Harry. He had been holding on to it for too long. It didn't actually belong to him after all and he felt like it was time to let go of the trauma that he was clinging onto. Of course, he would always keep Lily and James in his heart but it was about time that he moved forward. Starting with giving the little blue stuffed animal back to its rightful owner.

According to Lupin's calculations, Harry should be getting back from school right around this time. He had checked when the local school would finish and which bus Harry should be taking in order to figure out when he would be walking back to Privet Drive. And he was right. Just as Lupin peeked around the corner of the little alley that he was hiding in, a small scrawny child appeared at the end of the street. There was quite a distance between them but Lupin knew immediately that that must be Harry. He looked exactly like what James used to look like when they first met! Well, if James had been a little thinner and a bit younger. But except for that, it was like Lupin was back in the Hogwarts Express on his way to his first year at Hogwarts.

Alright, time for his plan to go into action. Lupin left his alley and started walking in the same direction as Harry. Close enough so that Harry could see him but with a distance between them that was large enough so that Harry would not be paying more attention to him than necessary.

Lupin was aware that his whole plan might seem a bit creepy but he didn't know of any other way to get the stuffed toy to Harry. He couldn't just walk up to 4 Privet Drive and knock on their door. He was supposed to keep his distance. And even if he approached Harry directly, what was he supposed to say? “Hello, I am an old friend of your long-dead parents. Here's an old stuffed animal that you probably don't even remember. Have a good day”? Well, that would be even weirder. And he wasn't really doing this for Harry anyways, and more for himself.

To be honest, Lupin wasn't doing very well at the moment. He hadn't really made any good friends since that fateful Halloween night in 1981 and he just had to his quit his job again. He had actually enjoyed this particular job a lot more than many of the jobs he had taken over the course of the last couple of years but unfortunately, one of his co-workers got dangerously close to finding out his secret so he had to leave.

Lupin had decided that the only way to get himself out of this misery that he called his life was to let go of the past and to focus on the future. That was why he wanted to give the stuffed animal to Harry. So that he could let go. And of course, as well because he felt like Harry should have something from his parents. He needed it more than Lupin did.

As Lupin was walking down the street, Harry somewhere behind him, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the old stuffed toy. It had lost some of its shine over the years and was now looking kind of ragged. He gingerly rubbed his thumb across the animal's face. He could never quite figure out what it was meant to be but it didn't matter anymore.

Lupin gripped the little animal tight one last time before he let go off it and dropped it onto the pavement. Without looking back, he walked around the next corner and disapparated, only then to reappear a couple of feet behind Harry. He crouched down behind a bush, which left him in a position which was invisible to Harry but still enabled him to clearly see what he would do.

Lupin watched Harry bend down and pick up the small toy. He jogged a few feet to have a look around the corner that Lupin had disappeared behind and when he saw that nobody was there, he turned around and looked up and down the street.

Lupin could see him hesitate, unsure of what to do next since there was nobody that he could give the dropped toy back to. Lupin watched Harry take off his school backpack, open it, and shove the stuffed animal inside. Then he put his backpack back on and continued on his way home, as if nothing had happened.

Lupin sighed with relief and smiled. Thankfully, Harry had not just thrown the toy away. He hoped that he would treat it well. Maybe one day, Lupin would even be able to tell Harry that he was the one who gave it to him, and how much it meant to him.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. I'm sorry that the notes in the beginning are almost as long as the fic itself. Please leave some feedback! :)
> 
> Edit (19/02/2019): My amazing friend created some absolutely adorable artwork for this and I want to feature it here:  
> 


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